Lee Kaeun

rkwendy​:

Wendy chuckles as she accepts the praise. She’s always been so bad at accepting compliments, but she’s trying to work on that. Especially when she feels that Kaeun unni means it. What Kaeun says catches her attention. “You are able to tell who’s who by how we walk? Now that’s even cooler!” Wendy wasn’t exactly good at any survival skills other than screaming and outrunning her enemies. But hearing that someone can tell who’s who by the sound of their footsteps is next level impressive. 

“Thank you, though, unni,” she says with a soft smile. “It means a lot coming from you.” If there was anyone other than her mother and her CEO whose approval Wendy wanted so badly, it would have to be her members. After all, they’re living together and working together 24/7. Wendy has always wanted people to like her, and she just wants to get along with everyone. Life was less complicated if she didn’t have any enemies. 

“I can’t help it, but I want to win. Not just for me, but for the whole AND*ROMA,” Wendy chuckles. “It’s the competitive figure skater in me, I guess.” Ever since debut, Wendy has shifted her priorities from individual glory to bringing up the whole team. After all, they fly together; they flop together. Wendy frowns when Kaeun calls herself tone-deaf. “I don’t think you are. You have a great tone; you just haven’t had a chance to explore it,” she whispers back. “I just think your voice is under-practiced at least for singing. Besides, you’re more focused on rap and dance, right?” 

kaeun chuckled. if there's one thing she does better, it's observation. looking at the different things changing around her, hearing the way some members walked with determined fury to those that sashay down the wooden flooring of the hallways. it's all very characteristic of her members, and endearing in a way. "heh, but that's only limited to our members! it's not a skill i can apply anywhere else, honestly."

"aww...now i'm excited. i really think you've got a good shot. one day, when the show is ready for you, we'd definitely be rooting you on," she nodded firmly. it's nice to see her members' dedication to themselves and the entire band. kaeun's still figuring out her own worth in the team, but all she knew is that any personal progress channels back to the team, and any team efforts gets distributed back to the individuals. both are two and one the same, especially at this moment.

"...i do?" she arched one brow in amusement, smiling. "that's a great compliment, i'm honor. i will be putting this into my safe box," she laughed again. no one had ever commented on her tone, but it felt good to be noted. "yeah, rap is more of my thing. and dance, though that is a nova thing," she lowered her voice, as if she's sharing a deep dark secret with her pal. "singing is a whole different tier, but perhaps some day, i'd be able to find out more on what i can use about my vocals."

“please take note, recording starts in twenty!” 

rkmiya​:

“i mean if you can spice it up then that’s better than nothing, right?” sunmi offers with a light chuckle. while she likes her stage name, she’s sure it’s much easier to have just your name be the name you’re known by. kaeun could be just kaeun and that would be enough for her. sunmi was darae. and*roma’s darae. for some reason she felt a pressure there to be a little…more. she wonders if kaeun shares the same idea or if it truly was less stressful to just have her name as a moniker officially now. sunmi didn’t want to turn the conversation into a topic so serious. she benched the question for now. she’d ask kaeun when they’re back in the dorms.

“you’re a dj, anyhow. that’s basically exciting. you can be our party animal!”

what do you have? sunmi blanked immediately. what did she have? the realisation dawned on her that while she was banking on just winging it, she didn’t have the slightest idea of what to say even jokingly. she’s pretty sure kaeun could read the lost and somewhat panicked expression on sunmi’s face. she wasn’t doing anything to hide it.

“oh god kaeun i’m boring and not clever i can’t do this! what would i even say? what is my title? i’m just the leader–” sunmi can’t think of anything that’s witty or catchy for her to use in her introduction. mother of nova? that’s weird. dance machine? over played, basic and expected. and she couldn’t leave it at just leader. that’s just her literal title in the group. “i don’t even have one…..”

even if kaeun’s was “plain” she was better off than her own leader, in the very least.

"...i can't argue against that," she chuckled. spicing things up wasn't her forte unless it came to the kitchen. it just so happens that she grew up in a traditional family; always be humble, always be law-abiding, always be honest. a set of rules that governed her life and shaped her beliefs that years later, she struggled to put herself out there for various reasons. in this world, no one values simple honesty as they do how you can smartly market yourself.

but then, she'd find a way. it's alright if she's plain, boring kaeun, too. because that's as real as they can get - a girl that only wants to move forward with realistic goals.

"party animal is a good one. i can tap on that. fluff it up a little so it fits me a little more? less party and more animal," she joked, but her smile slipped away at the sight of sunmi's mild panic.

backdated. 28 sep 2020

“hello everyone!” her voice rang out ten seconds after her screen loaded, waving as the comments started coming in. it’s relatively late, but it wasn’t time for lights out yet. the usual her would have been off doing something with the amount of time she have, but right there and then, she felt like going for an early night rest. their schedules were coming to an end soon and it made sense for the weariness to really settle into her bones.

but slow doesn’t mean a lack of things to do.

tying her shoelaces tightly as she stood up, tugging at the creases of her tight, figure-hugging top, kaeun looked at herself in the mirror. white in head to toe wasn’t her usual style, nevermind the bright sunshine-like smile that she tried to make into her signature. to kaeun, a dash of colors was what gave her life - the blues and the purples, the reds and greens. something fun, something dynamic. 

for all things considered, september signified a slowdown in time with schedules coming to an end and them entering yet another period of training. kaeun doesn’t think it’s a bad thing, per say, though she would have to say that she’s starting to prefer being able to perform on stage than the weeks in nova’s training studios until the few times they were let out.

kkaeeunn          16 sep 2020

kkang morning~ managed to catch a good sleep.  did you guys rest well too? 🤗 today is our last music stage 🥺 i’m not ready to say goodbye yet...!

but all good things must come to an end, so we can come back with something even better. 🌈 today, come play with and*roma!

i’d be waiting. 😊

there’s a first for everything ★ monologue

and*roma first win. // gif cr.

she’s always thought she’s a tough person to crack. throughout her turbulent career faced with multiple setbacks, kaeun had never shed a tear. the last time she cried was when she got drunk after breaking up with her first love, perhaps. since then, she’s kept most of her frustrations away, hidden moments of sadness and mutes the little noises with headphones on and volume at full blast.

birthdays are something to look forward to while at the same time, not to look forward to. ever since her graduation from high school, she hadn’t recalled the last time she actually had a proper birthday party or celebration. the year before with the rest of the girls was her first in a long time, and before that it was just a quiet dinner, if any, with her mother and sister. 

when kaeun wakes up her shared room with sunmi is decorated with a garland on the wall spelling out happy birthday. there’s a few birthday balloons on kaeun’s side of the room. and at the foot of her bed is a black box with ribbons saying chanel on it and a little note. the note reads:

happy birthday sunflower kaeun!

i wanted to get our group model something for her to show off in! i think you would look very chic in this. i’m putting the energy into the universe that you will be the model for chanel!!

don’t worry about the price! you deserve it and you’ve worked hard this year~ please keep being healthy and being well

- love darae

inside the box is this dress neatly folded for kaeun to wear. and when kaeun is ready to leave the room into the kitchen, sunmi has also prepared her a special breakfast!

she wakes up at the first shrill of her alarm. truth be told, she hadn’t slept all that deeply, having heard shuffling of feet earlier on, but just choosing to ignore the little noises around the house. living with a larger group of people meant more shuffling about here and there, and while kaeun is considered a lighter sleeper, she drifted in and out of consciousness all too easier that it doesn’t bothered her much.

what truly surprised her was the fact that she managed to fall asleep even as they were decorating the wall. the schedules was definitely getting to her, but it was a great surprise to have either way. rubbing the weariness out of her eyes, she leaned forward to the black box, opening it up quickly only to sit there, stunned, for a few more seconds. 

( not going to lie, she thought for a moment hte girls were pranking her a bit with the kind of gift hiding inside a chanel box. that said, the price of the item wasn’t as important as the fact that she’d enjoy it - and this one was definitely something she’s dreamed of wearing but would never be able to fork out that sum. she blinked, hands running down the fabric, before she skipped out of the shared room with the box in her arms, bouncing her way to the elder.

rkwendy​:

“That’s better than nothing,” Wendy says with a smile. “At least you will be able to give more unexpected answers than I would.” Wendy had watched the show regularly as a trainee, and even now when she had free time. She had been so busy with school and their own idol promotions, so she hasn’t had much time to watch TV. She can’t help but wonder whether the format has changed, or if it’s still the same as when she used to watch it regularly. 

Wendy allows herself to smile. “I would hope so,” she says. “But what I realized is that it’s more of the mannerisms that we should pay attention to as well. Especially if we want to guess who is the singer behind the mask. Or if they have a really distinct tone, I am sometimes able to tell who it is by their breathing.” Wendy blinks as soon as she realizes how weird that sounds. “Okay, yeah, that sounds creepy, but it only applies to those I listen to a lot, or those with a distinct tone.” She takes a breath before she continues. “If it were any of our members, I think I can guess everyone but Juhee. That’s only because I have yet to familiarize myself with her tone and her habits.”  

“I used to watch it every week, until we got busy,” she says with a chuckle. “It’s one of my favorite shows to watch.” At the followup question, Wendy allows herself to frown a little bit. “I’ve always wanted to be here as a signer, unnie,” she admits. “But at the same time, I’m scared I won’t be good enough to make it past the first round and let the whole team down.” 

“breathing- wow, you really are an expert,” kaeun chuckled, eyes curling as she pressed her hands together. and kaeun meant it in a positive light - that’s the thing about her most of the time, that her words carried a sincere weight, even in marvel or in curiosity. even if there was a benefit of doubt or a hint of annoyance, kaeun has learned the art of hiding it all behind a perfectly practised smile. that of course, was reserved only for the handful few - and she’s glad that she wouldn’t ever have to resort to that among her members.

the girls are nice, there’s no reason to bare her fangs at them.

“i don’t think it’s creepy, i think it just means you really mastered your craft,” kaeun added slowly with a firm nod. she could never tell who is who from their breathing, but she would be able to mimic their postures and gestures - coming from her cosplay days where she would follow suit to the animation characters as part of her reprise. “i can only tell from the sounds of you guys walking, mayyybe.” another laugh, she hummed, listening.

rksora​:

at the other’s words, juhee immediately flushes in embarrassment. cheeks glowing pink at the insinuation of her tiny feet – which weren’t too far off the mark considering juhee could barely pass for a size 6 on a good day ( though with the constant pounding of her feet because of recent choreography practice ; her feet have been swelling occasionally – a feat juhee welcomed, maybe her feet actually looked normal and not akin to elves from their size because of this ) .

she hums her acknowledgement before thanking her elder, fingers immediately finding their place to grab the shoes that had been set beside the ones she had mistakenly grabbed in her carelessness. “nothing good ol’ tape would have been able to fix.” she jokes, lightly – though she’s unsure if that would really be realistic in this case. she knew the stylists would be rounding on them soon to tape the heels to their feet but juhee wasn’t entirely sure if tape would fix shoes that were broken. ( not that juhee wanted to find out or anything ; she’d promised the stylists she’d keep the wardrobe malfunctions to a minimum this time around ) 

“a little bit. i ate a nutritional bar before we left the dorm this morning. have you been able to eat?” while it wasn’t common, juhee had been feeling nervous lately. enough that it was starting to trouble her digestion and make it even harder to keep her food down without her feeling nauseous. ( juhee had chalked it up to nerves, if anything ) 

she pondered briefly if tap would be able to fix a broken heel, like how ron tried to do so in that episode of harry potter. it made her crack a smile on her own, as she shook her head to wave that image of a badly tapped heel half dangling as the younger girl walked. it’s a dangerous feat, not that any stylist would ever let her go on stage like that. 

they would be scolded though. their outfits weren’t exactly cheap, plus most of them were rented or sponsored to be returned; kaeun knew how that worked when she was doing some modeling and influencer work in the past. never fun when you break something you’re not meant to break.

trigger warning: diet, food

she digress. “oh, a nutrition bar?” kaeun frowned, lightly patting juhee on the head as her way of expressing concern and affection. she’s never big on replacement meals despite resorting to that from time to time during her modeling gigs. still, it’s not healthy, no matter how much nutrition the package claimed to have. a proper meal is what gives the body the right amount of fuel, or at least that’s what she believes. “is that enough? let’s have a good meal after the performance,” she added, trying to give the other an encouraging smile.

Wendy didn’t have much time to sneak out, so she opted to have something delivered to the dorm instead. Thankfully, the package arrived days ahead of schedule. It was already gift-wrapped, so all Wendy had to do was to ask the manager to sneak it into the pile of birthday gifts Kaeun would likely receive from her fans. 

“Happy birthday, Kaeun unnie! Here’s to yet another year for you. Thank you for everything, and I hope we get to spend more time together outside of group stuff. I miss getting to shop with you. ^^;; I saw this bag and it would look cute with you. I hope you like it! - All my love, Wendy" 

it’s been nearly a year since she’s in public eye since their last survival show, but it still surprised her to receive gifts from fans in this scale - letters and physical gifts, one after another. it wasn’t a dramatic pile-up you see in the dramas, but it was more than she had on the regular for sure, and some of them looking more expensive than what she would even spend on herself. 

( it felt weird, but at the same time, kaeun was touched to receive love and in a sense, the affection and care. perhaps it’s something she never divuldge, but it meant more to her than she let on. )

and among it, was wendy’s little gift. kaeun would recognize that handwriting easily, having seen it from time to time. chuckling as she opened up the present, the girl held the bag nicely in her hold as she skipped towards wendy’s room, making sure to give her the acknowledgment that she received the well-thought gift.

kkaeeunn          10 aug 2020

when the “wink” looks more like “the sun’s too bright!”